This Week In Home Entertainment: The Muppet Movie, Girls Season 2 And More

The Muppet Movie was a spectacular box office success when it was released back in 1979, giving us a quality plotline with Kermit and the gang and, startlingly, baring Kermit’s feet during an awesome scene featuring a bicycle. More than thirty years later, the film has become a classic, and Walt Disney Home Entertainment has really put a little love into the new Blu-ray set.

The Muppet Movie has been in print a slew of times, but this Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition marks the first time the film is available in Hi Definition. This doesn’t help us to emotionally identify with Kermit’s “Rainbow Connection” or his rendition of “I Hope That Something Better Comes Along” with Rowlf; however, when it comes to Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem painting the old Studebaker with psychedelic colors, the picture really pops.

Disney’s sets are usually a visual treat, but The Muppet Movie Blu-ray offers a really nice menu page, several bonus features, and an intermission screen. It’s the latter I would like to talk about. If, for some reason, you need to pause the film and grab some popcorn or whatever, the movie goes into “Intermission” mode, which is a basically a giant animated sing-a-long that includes the lyrics to all of the songs.

The Muppets have made a big comeback in popular culture, thanks to Jason Segel’s recent film and a second movie in the works. While the new stuff has been an impressive continuation of the Muppets story, The Muppet Movie is near perfect, from its road trip format, to its music and its occasional ability to break the fourth wall. If you don’t already own a DVD copy of the film, the Nearly 35th Anniversary Blu-ray is the edition to get.

Best Special Feature: The movie was put together so long ago that there wasn’t a lot of extra footage filmed. It would have been nice to have seen some retrospective bonus features, but as it stands we do get some impressive (and lengthy) camera tests featuring Fozzie Bear tossing out schtick and Kermit responding with logic. You’d think these would be boring, but they are actually pretty funny.